>> italian collections turning into a cliffhanger. >> angela merkel close to angola. >> at the oscars, ben aflac's i ran in conflict, "argo" takes

home the prize for best picture. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> it looks like it will come down to the wire in italy where the latest election results appear to be pointing towards political gridlock. this poll is crucial as they are deciding who will lead them to the debt crisis. >> the votes are still being counted, but it looks like the central left is neck-and-neck with the central right, led by former leader burlesconi. the outcome could decide whether austerity is in or out. early predictions givingpier luigi bersani a clear lead in the lower house of caller meant. -- of parliament.

as most likely partner is outgoing prime minister, mario monti, the architect of an austerity program popular with the international world. he may have been upstaged, but they currently have a slim lead in the upper house of parliament. a further muddying the picture, his tirades against the political elite helping his 5- farm movement to the initial in a strong third. they're starting to predict parliamentary gridlock which could perpetuate another trend. voter turnout was 8% was down five years ago, not a good omen for the eurozone's third largest economy. >> for the latest, let's go to rome and to our correspondent. it's looking quite close.

what's the latest you've heard? >> italy is heading for a stalemate. in his neck and neck believe the left and -- between the left and right and it is still too close to call who will have a majority in the senate, the second chamber, but it is the deciding chamber because you would need both in italy to govern in a stable manner. >> there has been a low turnout over the past few days. what does that say about how they're feeling? >> the low turnout is partially due to the weather. we have had snow, rain, and large portions of italy and it's also due to the voters saying they are fed up with the old system and they do not want the old parliament anymore. the other part of this protest is voting for the comedian, the actual winner of this election, who came out of nowhere and now

he is sitting in parliament, in both chambers with 20% in one chamber and 25% in the senate. >> how did he manage to pick up so many votes? >> he is against the austerity measures which mariel monte -- mario monti introduced and he said italians deserve 1000 euro each regardless and that they should have free internet. he is against the euro and the austerity measures coming from brussels and berlin. he's a very popular man, but he is no politician. he says he does not want to go to parliament, just to protest. >> the other big issue is sylvia burlesconi picking up a lot of support in recent weeks. what should we take away from that box >> burlesconi is also a

winner in this election. in only four weeks, he double its share in the popular vote. a spokesman of his party says he is back. burlesconi is back in the ring and this will not be the last election burlesconi is there, but he will now run for office. he is still pulling the strings behind the scenes. >> dan, thank you for the report. >> from rahm out of brussels where nina has more on what all this means for europe. there has been a lot of concern about the vote in italy and what it means for the eu debt crisis. what does brussels make of the vote so far? is austerity out? >> there are no official comment yet, but you can rest assured that everyone is watching very closely. brussels has been very concerned and worried about the potential return to power of silvio burlesconi.

they have been working very closely together this past year to get in back on its feet. italy, like we have heard before, is a very important player in europe, the third biggest contributor to the euro budget and one-fifth of the rescue aid comes from realm. the concern is that if silvio burlesconi returns to power, that risks plunging the entire eurozone into chaos again. plus, the european project could come to a standstill. one message has been received here in brussels. more than half of the italians voted for the euro-sceptic populist. one of them, they will have to deal with in the next government that will be formed. >> nina, thank you for the update from brussels. the outcome of the italian elections has been weighing heavily on financial markets.

our correspondent from frankfurt stock exchange has more on the ups and downs of the day. >> anything but an easy and steady start to the week. election results in italy for providing rate relief for the traders here and looked as though burlesconi would not be having any influence on policy in the future, but as new results came in, it looked doubtful that he could be excluded from having a say in how the country would be governed. the people here at the stock market do want a stable government than they do want reform-oriented policy, and they do want financial pressure from the markets in terms of italy to be reduced in the near future. now, with this result, things do look to dampen. the share prices at the end of the day no longer as good as they were in the beginning. >> let's take a closer look at the market numbers. a roller-coaster ride with the dax ending higher.

is similar story for the euro. in new york, trading is still under way for the dow jones. investors there are a bit more nervous about what a divided time in parliament and what it could mean for eurozone stability. the dollar is also on the decline. >> the u.s. justice department is squaring off against lawyers from bp to determine liability from the 2010 gulf oil spill begins. the court will say they focused more on cost cutting than safety which led to the rig explosion that caused the spill. >> it killed 11 workers and leaked hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil into the gulf over three months. >> german chancellor angela merkel on turkey -- in turkey holding talks with the prime minister. this comes amid growing frustration over the lack of progress in succession talks with european union.

>> she has made no secret in her opposition of their joining the e.u. nonetheless, she wants the talks to continue. >> they met in an agora. the visit was meant to show that ties between the two are close despite a lack of progress on the eu talks. earlier, the meeting with the president and to send a similar signal. also highly symbolic, the chancellor's trip to the border region with syria. german patriot missiles have been deployed there along with some 300 german soldiers to protect nato-allied turkey from possible attacks across the border. >> i believe this also contribute to improving relations between turkey and germany in another book completely different area.

>> then, an unusual outing. the chancellor rarely has time on official visits to go to tourist destinations, but this time she made an exception to see the world heritage site in central anatolia. she is all too aware of the sensitive nature of the talks in turkey and she opposes full ec membership, but she has promised to end the talks giving her backing to a new round of negotiations. >> we're now joined on the line by dorian in a stumble. she wants the negotiations on membership to move ahead, but she is skeptical about turkey becoming a full member. >> that's what she said at a press conference as well with the turkish prime minister standing next to her. see says she does want the process to move forward. 22 out of 35 memberships have yet to complete our frozen.

the chancellor said she won in one of those chapters to be on a frozen and that would be well below the was a key expectation and from the german chancellor. she did say that turkey needs to do more reforms and she mentioned the question of religious freedom and questioned this also coming up. they are permitted for a further report. >> syria was also mentioned. what did they talk about there? >> it is believed the turkish prime minister raised the question about arming the syrian opposition. they want heavy weapons to be given to them which they believe will be a game changer. the german chancellor has been very reticent along with other european leaders and she points out that these weapons will not end up in the hands of radical islamist groups with links to all qaeda. it does not appeared have

anything coming from that. >> dorian, thank you. >> turkey is a regional heavyweight with a stronger economy to match. its economic growth has been dwarfing the eu's recently. >> who needs who more? >> they have become an important trading partner and that is increasingly clear on the streets of istanbul. >> the name may be hard to pronounce, but that does not stop them at this german shoe store from snapping up the products. turkey is a lucrative market for german retailers. they have 80 stores across the market. the manager who grew up in germany says he is not surprised. turkey has a lot to offer. >> we have political and economic stability and a young population. the average age here is 28.

people like to shop and they're very fashion-conscious. >> from coffee to electronics, the big german retailers are now in shopping malls, yet when it comes to their bid to join the european union, germany remains reluctant. they doubt they will ever become members. >> the eu was going through a crisis which will make it even harder for turkey to get membership. are not very helpful. >> it is not turkey that needs europe. europe needs turkey. they should accept us as members. >> survey showed only one in three now believe the current negotiations will and in membership. those who are still keen to see them join the eu same brussels needs to change -- take the initiative and end the impasse. >> psychologically, it would be

helpful to give them something to work towards. as the most powerful country in the eu, the german role is very important here. why not 2023, for example, the 100's anniversary of the turkish republic. >> the turkish economy remains robust and is forecasted to grow by 3% this year. the more they prosper, the more they're beginning to fear that perhaps they do not need europe after all. even without the membership, more than 4000 german companies are involved in turkey. germany is their largest trading partner by far. berlin's restrictive visa policies are a hassle. >> first of all, we need an official invitation before we can come. then we need to prove salary,

but the flight tickets. it's very time-consuming. a reform of the business visa is long overdue. >> business may be booming but complete harmony is still a distant dream. >> coming up after the break, a closer look a conflict in syria. >> and who does not love the oscars? the european angle is next.

>> the syrian government say they are ready to hold talks with armed opposition groups.pte announcement in moscow ahead of talks with officials. >> we do not know all the terms yet. in the past, they have demanded that the rebels lay down arms before the talks begin. these could signal the biggest breakthrough they have seen since the civil war nearly two years ago. four rebel groups have been locked in a battle -- a better struggle and tens of thousands

of people have died in the conflict. they continue to talk in moscow and the fight is raging on inside syria. >> allah akbar! >> this video reports to show a syrian helicopter shot down near aleppo. for the rebels, it was a small triumph, another blow at the regime's power. fighting raged through the weekend and claiming dozens of lives sunday and monday as well, there were reports of fresh bottles in the country, damascus as well. the syrian foreign minister travel to moscow to meet with russian counterparts. they said the regime was willing to enter discussions with rebel groups. that is the first time the government has made such an offer.

>> we are ready for a dialogue with anyone who was willing, even with those who carry arms. we are confident that reforms will come about, not through bloodshed, but through dialogue. >> however, a spokesman said assaad would have to step down before any talks could take place. in cairo, the president of the political opposition, the syrian national coalition said they plan to boycott a conference organized by the friends of syria next week. the coalition says previous conferences have been counterproductive. there is a guarded optimism as summit took hope from the regime of's announcement. more than 70,000 people have died in the conflict so far.

>> it would be a major foreign policy success if moscow was able to get the syrian government and opposition around the same table, but it is still on the floor plan is going to happen. >> the most senior catholic clergyman is resigning after allegations of inappropriate behavior toward other priests. >> he said he would offer his resignation months ago but it was only today the vatican made it effective. he is reported a making unwanted advances to a number of priests up to 30 years ago. the cardinal denies the chances and he would not take part in the upcoming election of a new pope. vatican officials say pope benedict xvi try the world changing the selection process will start as soon as all

cardinals arrived in loan. -- arrive in rome. >> sunday, wellwishers turned out for his final prayers as hopepope. >> swedish furniture giant ikea is removing the frozen meat balls after tests found that some contained horse meat. >> officials in the czech republic found the meat. ikea is conducting their own tests to validate the findings and that meatballs from other batches are still on the shelf. >> there may be another food scandal brewing in germany. they are investigating what they believe could be massive fraud by egg producers. >> 200 farms are suspected of repurpose saying they are organic and those breaking the law could be jailed.

>> the eggs in question were sold of organic, but they are not. farmers are only allowed to label eggs organic for free range if they have at least four square meters of space and if their feet is organic. prosecutors allege 150 farms in lower saxony and 50 others elsewhere have broken the law. >> disinformation emerged during a civil case where one egg producer conceded his space was overcrowded. he said that was the norm in most places. >> lower saxony's agriculture minister urged authorities to take a tough line with all offenders. he said some farmers may be guilty of systematic fraud. >> there needs to be harsh penalties for those involved. the regional government is

looking out banning them from operating. consumers need to know they are not being cheated with the eggs they are buying. >> the previous agriculture minister has rejected suggestions he waited too long before going public with the revelation. he said prosecutors asked him to keep the matter under wraps so they could complete their investigation. >> they have descended in barcelona and there are a few trends this year like more smartphones to satisfy the demand for lower price point. >> and then there's the new stuff out of the box. ready for a hot new product? here it is. >> samsung's latest invention is a tabloid -- a phablet, common asian phone and tablet. it will hit stores in march, but it will not say how much will

cost. >> is designed for people on the go. they want a practical solution provider -- combining mobility and home use so it connects the career with the down time. >> nokia hopes this model will be a big seller priced at just 15 euro. it does not feature a touchscreen, but the battery designed to last for a month. web browser mozilla is after the same market, emerging markets. this is what their smartphone will look like. firebox will hit stores in brazil, mexico, poland, and spain. >> the next 2 billion people will mostly come on line from emerging markets and most of them do not have a smartphone today. that is where we are targeting

the first devices and where we believe the growth will come from. >> barcelona's mobile fair shows it will remain a growth market in 2013. >> the battle to build the coolest and smart as device, the best operating system is tougher than ever. even market leaders like apple, samsung, an android are vulnerable. the market is changing fast and so are the company's shares. >> did you see last night's oscars? >> i did not. >> if you missed it, you missed a historic night. the british actor daniel day- lewis became the first person to win three oscars for best actor taking home the prize for his work in the movie "lincoln." >> he was not the only european cleaning up in the awards. first, the big result that everyone was waiting for, best film. the presenter this year was a

big surprise. >> live from the dobie theater -- >> one of a number of unexpected events. first lady michelle obama making an unprecedented appearance by video from the white house to announce the winner of best picture. >> and the oscar goes to -- argo! [applause] >> ben affleck of's political thriller took the top prize. he reacted with disbelief. >> when they give us the trophies, i was confident that we would win. >> europeans were also richly rewarded this year. christoph waltz 14 best supporting actor for his role in quentin tarantino's "django unchained."

the best foreign language film also when to an austrian, "armour." the difficulties facing a couple after one has suffered a stroke. jennifer lawrence for best actress in "silver linings playbook and then he became the first man to win three oscars in a leading role for his portrayal of abraham lincoln. taiwanese director ang lee told the best director prize from "life of pi," about a young man stranded on a boat with a tiger. >> i'm very happy. i share this excitement with all of the taiwanese people, people everywhere. >> overall, "life of pi" one the most taking home four. >> before we go, a time for a recap of the top news.

the italian elections coming down to the wire. >> the latest results are pointing to political gridlock. the center-left coalition led by bersani is neck-and-neck with the center-right led by silvio burlesconi. >> they are watching with bated breath. the outcome could decide whether austerity is in or out. currently looking at the markets, the dow is down. investors are nervous. we have the latest as soon as the results rolled in. >> thanks for watching. we'll see you next time.